Typewriting machine



Jan. 1 1924 E. B. HESS TYPEWRITING MACHINE Filed Jan. 13, 1923 Afbrmczys MW! @lws mechanism has been i ficiently. In these machines the carriage 1s.

Patented Jan. 1, 1924.

UNIT D STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD R. Brass, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR'TO ROYAL TYPEWRITER COMPANY,

me, or EW YORK, N. Y., a CORPORATION or NEW YORK.

'TYPEWRITING MACHINE.

Application med January 13, 1923. Serial No. 612,462.

To all whom it may c'oncem:

Be it known that I, EDWARD B. Hnss, a citizen of the United States, residing at Manhattan Beach, in the county of Kings, New York, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Typewriting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to typewriting machines in which the platen is shifted from one position to another for case printing. In the Royal standard machine,-the platen is supported on a carriage which is shifted vertically for this purpose. One or more shift keys are connected with the carriage by mechanism which normally holds the carriage inlower position, but which, when a shift key is depressed, causes the carriage and 1ts platen to be raised to upper case position. In' the Royal machine-also 'mechanism is provided, Operated by a shift key, for locking the platen in upper case position until released when the carriage lowers by gravity to its normal positlon. In the Royal machine in order to partially counterbalance the weight of thecarnage so that the load on the shift -key may e reduced, a spring is connected with the mechanism and is put under such tension as to tend toraise the carriage and to thus assist in the shiftin operation. Such ound to operate efreturned to normal position by gravity solely and the counterbalancing sprlng has been of such tension that it will not so overcome the force of avity as to prevent or unduly im ede t e speedy return of the carriage. have found, however that the return of the carriage may be facilitated by providing means for giving an initial impulse to the return movement of the carriage.

In the Royal standard machine the counterbalancing spring is relaxed assoon as the carriage has reached the limit of its upward movement, but the shift keyhas an additional movement when depressed, which movement is cushioned in various ways. In my improved machine, suitable cushionin means is provided for the shift key, but

have also provided means in which power isstored during the shifting Operation and preferably before the carriage has been raised to its full extent. Preferably I employ for this purpose what I call a repulser, preferably in the form of a spring which is so associated with the shift mechanism that normally or when the carriage is in lower position it is inactive but which becomes active during the shifting operation and at the proper time operates to give an initial impulse to the return movement of I the carriage.

In carrying out my invention in the preferred wa the carriage shift rail is provided witii a lever engaging device which is normally out of contact with a lever associated with a spring which may be relaxed but which is placed under tension when the lever engagin device is raised and engages the lever. ower is thus stored in the spring which imparts an initial impulse to the carriage when the shift key is released and thus assists in the return movement of the carriage. r

. In the accompanying drawings F i re 1 is a side'elevation of parts of a Roya l' typewriting machine showing the usual shift mechanism modified to include my improvements. In Figure 1 the parts are in the normal lower case position.

Figure 2 is a detail view on an enlarged scale, showing how the lever engagin device is constructed and showing its re ation with the repulser.

Figure 3 is a detail plan view of the construction shown in Figure 1.

Figure 4 shows a modification of the re pulser spring.

I. have shown in Figure 1 only such parts of a typewriting machine of the Royal type as is necessary to illustrate how m improvements may be applied. The mac ine frame is indicated at the carriage at B, and the platen at C. The carriage is sup orted on a shift rail D which has downwar ly extending legs E connected at their lower ends with links F and connected near their upper ends with rocker arms H on a shaft h. The upwardly extendin arrnk of the shift key K is connected y an adjustable link L with another link M in turn connected at its rear end with one of the rocker arms H.

The arm is is also connected by a link N with a latch Q adapted to engage a bracket P on one of the legs E and to hold the carriage in lower position. When the shift key is depressed, the latch is first withdrawn and then the rocker arms H are so moved as to raise the carriage. It will be observed that there is certain ,lost motion at m between the link M and its connection with the rocker arm, permitting the latch to be withdrawn before the shift key is fully operated to raise the carriage.

In order to hold the carriage in upper case position, ll preferably employ the usual dog Q which is normally inactive but which engages the bracket. P and holds the carriage in raised position when the shift lock key R is operated. The shift lock mechanism indicated at S is of a kind heretofore used in Royal machines and it operates in the usual way.

The cushioning devices indicated at K are similar in construction and operation to those shown in Patent No; 1,244,729, issued to Royal Typewriter Company, line. on Oct. 30, 1917.

As in the Royal machine, the weight of the carriage is partially counterbalanced by a spring T connected with the machine frame and with the shift mechanism. This spring is normally under tension and tends to lift the carriage, but is. not sufficiently strong to do so. lit, nevertheless, facilitates the lifting operation of the shift keys. When the carriage is raised to its full extent, the'tension of the spring is fully re laxed and when the shift key is released in the standard Royal machine, the carriage returns solely by gravity.

The spring T is connected at one end to a toothed plate U pivoted at uto the machine frame and adjusted by means of a screw U.

Ordinarily when a shift key is depressed, the latch O is first released, then the, carriage is raised and when raised to its full extent against the stop A the tension of the spring T is relaxed. The carriage may be held in its raised position by the dog Q which is made to engage the bracket P by the shift lock ke R and when the shift lock key .is'depresse and the dog engages the bracket, the carriage will be held perma? nently in raised position after the fingers of the operator are removed from the key, but as soon as the dog Q is released by the operation of the key, the carriage returns,

by gravity to its lower position, determined by the stop B. T have found that the return movement may be greatly facilitated by employing what ll term a repulser which is normally inactive but which becomes active after the carriage has been ar y/re partly raised and serves to give an initial impulseto the return movement of the car ria e.

n Figurel of the drawing 1 have shown a preferred form of repulser comprising a lever V on a rock shaft V mounted in brackets 12 in the rear portion of the machine frame. This horizontally arranged lever V extends forwardly, its front portion being located beneath the shift rail D and said lever is associated With a vertically arranged coil spring W attached at 'w to the lever and at its lower end to to the machine frame. The tension of the spring may be adjusted by suitable devices located at w, The forward portion of the lever V is disposed over a roller 00 carried by a. bracket X depending from the shift rail D. This roller m is adapted to engage the lever V and operate it when the carriage is raised. Preferably two levers V with associated springs and brackets are employed being dulicated' on opposite sides of the machine. he roller w is normally disengaged from the lever V as shown in Figure 1 and 2 and the spring W is relaxed and normally the lever rests on an eccentric Y which may be so adjusted. as to hold the lever at the desired elevation. When a shift key is actuated to raise the carriage the usual mechanism shown operates in the usual way and as hereinbefore described, but during this operation the roller 00 engages the lever V, causing it to be raised and to put the spring W under tension, that is to store power therein. It will be observed that the roller as does not engage the lever V during the first part of the shifting operation but only towards the end thereof. lln this way when the shift key is first touched its operation is not impeded by any additional force and the carriage is easily given an upward impulse. .The spring W is therefore placed under tension not only by the power directly exerted by the operator, but also by the momentum of the carriage during its upward movement. It will be observed, therefore, that while the carria e is in its raised position it is connected wit devices which tend to pull it downward I and therefore when the shift key is released, an initial impulse is given to the return movement of the carriage which assists gravity and greatly facilitate in the operation.

By my improvements 1- am able to obtain a livelier and more responsive return of the carriage with an eight ounce key depression than has been heretofore possible with a key action of eleven ounce weight.

Figure f shows a modified construction. Parts shown in Figure t which are similar to those shown in Figure 1 are similarly lettered. lln this case, however, instead of employing a vertically arranged spring, such as shown at W in Figure 1, ll employ a coiled -One end of the spri'ng V is connected with one of the. brackets 11 while the other end is connected to clutch devices V of well known construction which are connected with the shaft V and which may be adjusted to vary the tension of the spring.

The mechanism is so timed that the repulser spring remains fully relaxed until the carriage is travelling toward the limit of its upward movement and until the counterbalancing spring has been relaxed so that the repulser operates freely when under tension without interference by the counterbalancing spring when the shift key is released.

, It will be understood that while my invention is shown applied to. a machine in which the entire carriage is raised and lowered for case printing, it i also applicable to machines in which only a portion of the car'- riage or a platen supporting frame is shifted for case printing, and also to machines in which the type bars with their segment or support are shifted for this purpose. vIt is, in fact, applicable to all machines in which there is a relative case shifting movement of the platen and the printing member or members.

I- claim as my invention: 1. In a typewriting machine, a member shiftable for case printing, means for shifting said member, and means brought into action only near the end of the shifting movement which gives an initial impulse to the return movement of the member.

2. In a typewriting machine, a platen, printing mechanism, means for producing a relative case shift movement between the platen and printing mechanism, and means brought into action only near the end of the shifting movement which gives an initial impulse to the return movement of the shifted member.

3. In a typewriting machine, a member shiftable for case printing, means for shifting said member, and means. normally inactive for that purpose but brought into action only near the end of the shifting movement which gives an initial impulse to the return movement of said member.

4. In a typewriting machine, amember shiftable for case printing, means for shifting said member, a spring for giving an initial impulse to the return movement of the carriage, and means for tensioning said spring for said purpose only near the end of the shifting movement.

5. In a typewritingmachine, a platen, printing mechanism, means for producing a relative case shift movement between the platen and the printing mechanism, a normally relaxed spring, and means for tensioning said spring only during the latter part of said shift movement. y

6. In a typewriting machine, a shiftable the shi carriage, means for shiftin the same, a spring for giving an initial impulse to the return movement of the carriage, and a lever moved during the latter part of the movement of the carriage and connected to said spring to tension the same during said movement.

7. In atypewriting machine, a shiftable member, means for shifting said member,

a spring for giving an initial impulse to the return movement of the member, -a lever pivoted at one end to the frame and to which said spring is connected, and-means for moving the lever and thereby tensioning said spring only during the latter part of the shifting movement. 8. In a typewriting machine, a shiftablc carriage, means for shifting the same, a normalliy inactive spring disconnected from 'mechanism', .and means whereby the shifting movement of the carriage tensions said spring to give an initial impulse to the return movement of the carriage.

9. In a typewriting machine, a shiftable carriage, means for shifting the same, a normally inactive spring, a lever pivoted to t e frame with whichsaid spring is, associated, and a bracket on said carriage engaging said lever during the latter part of the movement of the carriage and thereby tensioningthe spring to give an initial return movement to the carria e.

10. In a typewriting machme, a platen, printing mechanism, means for producing a relative ease shift movement between said platen and printin mechanism, a normally inactive spring, an means whereby the case shift movement will tension said spring to give an initial return movement to the shifted part.

11. In a typewriting machine, a shiftable carriage, a counterbalancing spring normally tending. to lift the carriage, means for shifting said carriage, and a spring normally in inoperative relation to the carriage and shifting means but which is tensioned by the latterpart of the shift movement to give an initial return impulse to the carriage.

12. In a typewritin machine, a shiftable frame, means for shi ting the same, a lever pivoted to the machine frame'and having one end adjacent said shiftable frame, a.

bracket carried by the shiftable frame normally spaced from said lever end but engaging 'the same to move it when the frame 18 shifted, and a spring tensioned by the lever when moved and adapted .to give an initial im ulse to the return movement of the shifta le frame.

13. In a typewriting machine, a shiftablc frame, means vfor shifting the same, a

counterbalance sprin for assisting in said movement, a lever' pivoted to the machine frame and having one end adjacent the nmeme shiftabie frame, a depending bracket carried by the shiftable frame and having" a part normally spaced from said lever end .but engaging the same to move it when the frame is shifted, and a spring tensioned by the lever when moved and coming into play during the latter part of the shifting movement to give an initial impulse to the return movement of the shiftaole frame in opposition to the counterbalance spring.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

EDWARD Bl HESS. 

